Of the Three Broomsticks and Quidditch Practice
by WolfRune20855
Summary: Daring misses Cerise's birthday celebration, and Cerise is pissed. A Hogwarts darise AU.


"Five galleons."

Jillian laughed as she finished lacing up her boots. "I'm not going to take you on that, Darling. You saw how angry she was this morning."

"How angry who was this morning?" Sparrow Hood asked as he entered the Gryffindor locker room.

"Cerise," Jillian answered, "You should have seen her at breakfast. She's about ready to kill Daring."

"And this matters because?"

"I was trying to start a bet with Jill," Darling said, "but she won't take me up on it because she's being stupid."

"I'm not being stupid," Jillian said, "I just know better than to bet against you where those two are concerned."

"What's the bet on?"

"Five galleons say that they passionately make out after practice."

"I'll raise you ten." Briar dropped her bag on the bench and pulled out her practice uniform. "Ten galleons says that they won't even last to the end of practice."

"Really?" Sparrow asked. "I don't see it. Ten galleons says that the underlying sexual tension that's been there for as long as we have known both of them goes ignored, as it has the past six years."

"I second Sparrow's bet," Chase said, not even bothering to glance up from the potions textbook that he was reading. "They're too afraid of ruining their friendship to do anything about it."

"Something that you'd know everything about," Briar muttered. A smile spread across Sparrow's face.

"You didn't see her this morning," Darling said.

"Yeah," agreed Jillian, "It was pretty bad."

"So, you think that they'll finally do something just because she's angry with him?" Chase asked. "This is Cerise we're talking about. She spends a third of her time getting mad at Daring."

"Oh," Darling said, "She wasn't just mad."

"No," Jillian agreed, "she was furious."

* * *

Cerise Hood was, in fact, furious. She was furious at her best friend, Daring Charming, for standing her up last night. Not that he stood her up because that would imply that it was a date. It wasn't a date. It hadn't been a date. It was supposed to be two friends hanging out at the Three Broomsticks a couple three days before her birthday because her birthday was on Halloween and it seriously sucked to have a birthday on a day that was also a widely celebrated holiday.

The only thing that sucked more was having your best friend stand you up. And, why? Because his ex needed help with her homework. No. That was not a good enough reason to leave Cerise hanging.

Cerise left her friends at the locker room and stormed onto the quidditch pitch where Daring was sure to be because he always arrived early to practice, unlike other things that he missed on more than one occasion. True to form, Daring was already in the air, testing out new plays as he flew around in his practice robes. Cerise grabbed her broom from the sideline and took to the air.

It was only when Cerise neared the goalposts that Daring noticed her. "Cerise," he said, a look of confusion washing over his face as he noticed that she wasn't wearing her practice robes, "Where's your uniform?"

"I don't know." Cerise aggressively crossed her arms. "Where were you last night?"

"Last night?"

"Yes," Cerise said, "Last night. Because I was at the Three Broomsticks until they closed and, funny thing, you never showed up."

"The Three Broomsticks?" Daring asked, "Shit, was that last night?"

"Yes, it was. Care to tell me where you were?"

"I was helping Rosebella out with her homework," Daring said, "I'm so sorry, Cerise."

"No need to apologize," Cerise said bitterly, "I understand." With that, she spurred her broom in the opposite direction, heading to the ground to get dressed for practice. Or maybe she'd just skip practice all together.

Daring raced after her, catching up to her the moment that her feet touched the ground. "Cerise, I'm so sorry. Let me make it up to you. We can go out tonight."

Cerise racked her broom on the sidelines, and stormed off towards the locker room. "No. I get it. You still have feelings for Rosebella, and I'm just your lousy best friend. There's no need to explain it to me."

"Yes, there is." Daring grabbed her arm, stopping her before she could enter the locker room. "I'm an idiot, okay? I'm an idiot, and I forgot that we had plans like an idiot. Rosebella and I got to talking, and I totally forgot."

Cerise squared her shoulders, taking a fighting stance despite the fact that Daring would never actually physically fight her. "And what were you talking about that it was so important that you missed my birthday?"

Daring swallowed, breaking eye contact with her, and heading back towards the pitch. "You need to get dressed for practice."

"No." Cerise chased after him. "I want to know what was so important that you forgot about plans that we made two weeks ago?"

"Nothing."

"Don't even try to lie to me, Daring Charming. I know you much better than that." Cerise took several steps forward until she was nearly nose to nose with Daring. "So, what was it that was so important that you decided to ditch me?"

Cerise didn't know what she expected Daring to say. Maybe she expected him to confess that he still had feelings for Rosebella. Maybe she expected him to swear that he was an idiot and that they should celebrate her birthday some other time. What she certainly didn't expect was for him to grab both of her arms and cover her mouth with his. Shocked, it took Cerise a moment to start kissing him back, which she did passion. She poured every ounce of anger and annoyance that she felt for Daring into that kiss. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.

Daring pulled back and studied her. "So…"

"You we're going to tell me what you were talking about," Cerise sounded breathless.

Daring smiled, leaning in towards her and brushing his thumb across her lower lip. "You," he said, "We were talking about you."

* * *

"What did I say?" Briar Beauty practically shouted from the locker room, "They didn't even last to the end of practice. All of you owe me ten galleons."

"Actually," Darling said, "I believe that Sparrow and Chase are the only ones who owe you ten galleons."

"Oh, no, no, no," Briar said, "You are not getting out of this one, Charming. You started the bet, so you're going to have to pay up."

"She's right, Darl," Jillian said.

Darling pulled five galleons out of her uniform bag. "You lot are no fun."

"We're all of the fun," Briar said.

"So." Five heads turned as Cerise Hood entered the locker room. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing," Briar said hastily, "Nothing at all."


End file.
